Most outdoor furniture failures we are asked to replace have one thing in common: they were specified for a garden and installed on a seafront. Salt, UV and pooled water are three different attack modes. A piece rated for one is not rated for all three.
1. The frame coating
For coastal use, powder-coated aluminium at 60–80 microns is the floor, not the ceiling. Below that, the coating microscopically chalks and the substrate starts to pit within two seasons. We salt-spray test frames to ASTM B117 on request and will hand you the report before you commit.
2. The weave
UV-stabilised wicker rated to 1,500 hours of accelerated weathering is the baseline for a piece that lives in direct sun. Unstabilised weave bleaches, then embrittles, then cracks along the stress points. The stabiliser is invisible and costs almost nothing — but it is the difference between a chair that looks new in year three and one that looks tired in year one.
3. The cushion core
Standard foam holds water. On a pool deck that means mildew and a permanent damp weight. Reticulated (open-cell) foam drains and dries instead of holding. It is the single most under-specified component on resort furniture, and the easiest one to get right.
A lounger is only as durable as its worst-specified component. We price the frame, the weave and the cushion core as one weather system, not three separate line items.
4. Drainage and detailing
Capped ends, weep holes and stainless fixings are details, not upgrades. They are what keep water from sitting inside a frame through a winter. On a coastal project we treat them as standard, and we will show you exactly where they are on the shop drawing.